Did you know…

Did you know that globally some 2.6 billion people are without access to any kind of improved sanitation?

Did you know that more than 2.2 million people, mostly in developing countries, die each year from diseases associated with poor water and sanitation conditions?

Did you know that the most affected group is the one of children under the age of 5?

Did you know that sanitation rarely receives the required attention and priority by politicians and civil society alike despite its key importance on many other sectors and for achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

People often do not want to talk about sanitation, and when asked about their wishes, you’ll often hear answers like “a new tv set, a vcr, a car..” etc. instead. So how come sanitation – as a basic human need – has become such a neglected request?

And please beware: just because the above mentioned facts mainly cover developing countries, it doesn’t imply that industrialized nations are having much better sanitation systems! Just think of the public toilet system in your town and ask yourself: would you want to use these toilets (if any) for your next nature’s call?

See?

With this small blog on the internet, we’ll try to display various approaches to an improved sanitation, cover some good and bad technologies and hopefully help to put sanitation on your agenda.

Almost half of the USA is now in drought. Atlanta faces imminent water shortages. I live near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The sewer authority has signed an consent decree–to comply with clean water law–which will cost $1 billion or more.

So while most aren’t paying attention now in the USA, that’s going to change. Your blog is prescient.

Living in Africa makes aware of these things. Right now wew are in the middle of a election campaign and not even aword is said about lack of sanitary facilities only about sharing wealth which is not there in the first place.

It is a good thing for us who are able to raise awareness on this issues as much as we can. I try as much to do so in my blog.

Who?

Saniblog.org is a blog dedicated to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and a partner of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance. Updates in English and German.
This site is maintained by @jke, who freelances in water, sanitation and IT for various clients. Welcome!